If there is one competitive baseball team that cannot seem to catch a break, it’s the Chicago Cubs. Over fifteen players have seen the injured list this season, including Justin Steele, Seiya Suzuki, Cody Bellinger, and Dansby Swanson. Kyle Hendricks’s downfall has come at an inopportune time for him and the Cubs. After a scalding hot start, the offense has cooled down at an alarming rate.
Injuries to Swanson and Nico Hoerner have left the middle of the infield without two Gold Glove Award winners. Miles Mastrobuoni and Nick Madrigal have been called on to fill in. Unfortunately, they have been unable to produce results remotely close to what the Cubs have needed, offensively or defensively. Luckily, Swanson is set to return on Tuesday with Hoerner soon in toe. The Cubs have also called up infield prospect Luis Vazquez. Mastrobuoni and outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong are making their way back to AAA Iowa.
While all this negativity has surrounded the team as of late, some really good things are also happening. Shota Imanaga and Javier Assad continue to keep the Cubs in games with their microscopic earned run averages. Christopher Morel’s defense at third base has improved since the first game of the year. Even so, Ian Happ and Michael Busch both had a rough go at it in the month of May at the plate, both batting well below league average.
The Cubs could use any piece of good news and positive vibes they can find with a tough week coming up. Three games with the Atlanta Braves will lead to ten division games in ten days. Fortunately, some good news has emerged, and it is a massive break for the Cubs.
The Chicago Cubs will start a three-game series at home against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday. Scheduling and fate seem to be on their side for these three games. The scheduled starters for the series have been released, and the Cubs will not be facing Reynaldo Lopez or Chris Sale in this series. This will also be the last time the Cubs face the Braves in the 2024 regular season.
In Atlanta, Lopez and Sale absolutely torched the Cubs. They combined for 12 innings of four-hit baseball and 13 strikeouts. Neither starter allowed a run to the Cubs, and both games ended in a shutout for the Braves. Both pitchers made starts against the San Diego Padres over the weekend. So, they are not scheduled to start in Chicago this week.
The Cubs will face Charlie Morton on Tuesday, who they lit up for four runs in three innings last week on their way to a 7-1 win in Atlanta. Max Fried will get the ball to start for the Braves on Tuesday.
The Cubs will send Javier Assad to the mound on Tuesday and left-hander Justin Steele on Wednesday. Neither team has announced a starter for Thursday’s series finale.
The Cubs have been gifted a break from the baseball gods and the rotation schedule. After three against the Braves, the Cubs go to St. Louis for three games against the Cardinals and Milwaukee for four games against the Brewers before coming home for three against the Cincinnati Reds. The tone of this huge stretch of baseball will be based on what they can accomplish at home against the Braves.
